Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)

Directed by

Tom Stoppard

Genre

drama film, comedy film, buddy film, comedy drama

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1h 58m

Rated

PG

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 325 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two minor characters from Hamlet wander through the edges of the story, unsure of what is happening or why. They try to make sense of their purpose while crossing paths with players and royalty.

philosophicalabsurdistbleakly comicthoughtfulslow-pacedtheatricalexistentialwry

What happens

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is a 1990 period black comedy film written and directed by Tom Stoppard based on his 1966 play. Like the play, the film depicts two minor characters from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who find themselves on the road to Elsinore Castle at the behest of the King of Denmark. They encounter a band of players before arriving to find that they are needed to try to discern what troubles the prince Hamlet. Meanwhile, they ponder the meaning of their existence. Filmed around Zagreb, Croatia, and in Brežice Castle, Slovenia, the movie won the Golden Lion at the 47th Venice International Film Festival. The film stars Gary Oldman as Rosencrantz and Tim Roth as Guildenstern, although a running theme throughout has many characters, themselves included, uncertain as to which is which. It also features Richard Dreyfuss as the leading player, Iain Glen as Hamlet, Ian Richardson as Polonius, Joanna Miles as Gertrude, and Donald Sumpter as King Claudius. This was Stoppard's only film as a director. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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